European Medicines Agency: coronavirus vaccine could be ready for approval in a year

AMSTERDAM, May 14 (Reuters) - A vaccine for the new coronavirus could be approved in about a year's time in an "optimistic" scenario, the European Medicines Agency said on Thursday.

The EMA's head of vaccines, Marco Cavaleri, said he was sceptical of claims it could be ready by September.

"For vaccines, since the development has to start from scratch ... we might look from an optimistic side in a year from now, so beginning of 2021," he told journalists. (Reporting by Toby Sterling and Ludwig Burger; Writing by Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Alison Williams)